Kimi hopes to compete in Rally Finland

Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen is hoping to return to the World Rally Championship for his home round of the series, Rally Finland in August.

Raikkonen departed the WRC last season, having spent two years driving a factory-specification Citroen.

The Jyvaskyla-based Rally Finland is the event Raikkonen has most experience, having competed there for the last three years. His best result was ninth last time out.

Raikkonen could compete in Finland, as the event runs the week after the Hungarian GP at the start of the Formula 1 season’s summer break.

Lotus is, however, likely to be understandably reluctant to let Raikkonen compete in Finland, having lost its star driver Robert Kubica when he crashed a Skoda Fabia S2000 ahead of the start of the 2011 season.

Raikkonen said: “I’d like to do Rally Finland this season as it fits with the calendar but you’ll have to ask the team if it fits in my contract.”

Raikkonen, whose best WRC result was a fifth place in Turkey in 2010, admitted the WRC was tougher than he expected ‘ but said he would be back.

He added: “I knew [rallying] was tough as I’d done some before but it’s different at the highest level. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. Of course, I wanted to do better. But I’m not finished. I want to go back, whether for my career or after I don’t know.

“Formula 1 and rallying are two completely different sports. In rallying everything is different. Okay, you have the pace notes but you don’t know for sure what’s around the next corner.”